Vietnam land rights activist jailed again

A Vietnamese court sentenced a land activist to 20 months in prison today for public disorder, her lawyer said, the second time she has been jailed for accusing authorities of snatching farmland for developers.

Land is wholly owned by the state in Vietnam and is a flashpoint issue. Regular protests are held in Hanoi by residents who accuse the government of snatching valuable plots.

Can Thi Theu, 54, was arrested in June after protesting in the capital, accusing the government of unfairly compensating residents for land in the Duong Noi area on the outskirts of Hanoi.

She was charged with public disorder and today "the court sentenced her to 20 months in jail," her lawyer Ha Huy Son told AFP, calling the penalty unjust.
 

A handful of supporters gathered outside the Hanoi court ahead of the verdict, while uniformed and plainclothes police lingered nearby, according to an AFP reporter.

This is Theu's second conviction for her activism.

In 2014 she was sentenced to 15 months in jail for a protest against government seizure of land in Duong Noi.

Human Rights Watch condemned the sentence, accusing the government of a "systematic denial of the right of peaceful protest".

Activists have said millions of rural tenants are vulnerable to land reclamation, which local officials can justify with vaguely defined public interest reasons.

Vietnam has come under fire for its crackdown on dissent, jailing scores of bloggers and activists in recent years.

On a visit to the country this month, French President Francois Hollande called for the release of four dissidents, including a land activist, though their names were not made public.